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A REPUBLICAN FORM OP GOVERNMENT; OUR FIRST 
DUTY AND THE ESSENTIAL CONDITION OF PEACE. 



E 666 

S9U5 LLS AND RESOLUTIONS, 



Copy 1 



BY 



HOI. CHARLES SUMER, 

OF MASSACHUSETTS, 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, AT THE OPEN- 
ma OF THE SESSION OF CONGRESS, DEC. 4, 1865. 

I. • 

A BILL To carry out the principles of a republican form of government in the 
District of Columbia. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That no peraon, in other respects qualified to vote 
within the District of Columbia, shall be excluded from that right by reasoa of 
his race or color. 

Sec 2. And be it further enacted. That any person whose duty it shall be to 
receive votes at any election within the District of Columbia who shall refuse to 
receive or shall reject the vote of any person entitled to such right under this act 
shall be liable to an action of tort by the person injured, and shall be liable, upon 
indictment and conviction, if such act was done knowingly, to a fine not exceeding 
five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to 
both. And where the person injured is of African descent, one-half the jury im- 
panelled to try the action or indictment shall be of African descent. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall molest any person 
entitled to vote under this act, in the exercise of such right, shall, upon indict- 
ment and conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding three thousand dollars, or to 
imprisonment for a term not not exceeding six monthf, or to both; and if the person 
molested was of Af'iean descent, one-half the jury impanelled to try the indict- 
ment shall be of African descent, 

n. 

A BILL To preserve the right of trial by jury, by securing impartial jurors, in, the 
courts of the United States, 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress, assembled, That in the courts of the United States in any 
State whereof, according to the census of anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty, 
one-sixth part or more of the population was of African descent, every grand jury 
shall consist one-half of persons of African descent who shall possess the other 
qualifications now required by law; and every petit jury shall, when the matter to 
be tried relates to any injury inflicted by a person of African descent upon a person 
not of such descent, or vice versa, or to any claim, suit or demand between a per- 
son of such descent and one not of such descent, consist one-half of persons of Afri- 
can descent possessing the other qualifications now required by law. Upon any 
such trial, prejudice against persons of African descent, or against persons not of 
such descent, shall be ground of challenge, and being establisied by proof, to the 
satisfaction of the judge, shall exclude the juror. And upon any such trial, ina- 
bility to read or write shall be ground of challenge ; and the fact being found by 
the judge, shall exclude the juror. 



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HI. 



A BILL J71 part execution of the guarantee of a republican form of government in 
the Constiiution of the United States. 

Whereas it is declared in the Constitution that the United States shall guarantee to 
«very State in this Union a republican form of government; and whereae certain 
States have allowed their governments to be subverted by rebellion, so that the 
duty is now cast upon Congress of executing this guarantee: Now, therefore, 

J9e it enacted by the Si^nate and Houae of lUpresenXativis cf the Vtiitcd States of 
America in Congress assembled, That in all States lately declared to be in rebellion 
there shall be no oligarchy, invested with jieculiarpiivileges and powers, and there 
shall be no denial of rights civil or political, on account of color or race; but all 
persons shall be equal before the law, -whether in the court-room or at the ballot- 
box. And this statute, made in pursuance of the Constitution, shall be the supreme 
law of the land, anything in the Constitution or laws of any such State to the con- 
traiy notwithstanding. 

IV. 

A BILL to enforce the guarantee of a rejjublican form of goveriimeid in certain 
States whose governments have been usurped or overihrcwn. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Honse of licpreserttatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That in the States lately declared in rebellion 
against the United States, the President shall, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, appoint for each a provisional governor, with pay and emoluments 
not exceeding those of a brigadier general of volunteers, who shall be charged with 
the civil administration of such State, until a. State government therein shall be 
recognized as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That the provisional governor of each of such 
States shall direct the marshal of the United States, as speedily as may be, to name 
a sufficient number of deputies, and to enroll all male citizens of the United States 
resident in the State in their respective counties, and to request each one to take 
the oath to support the Constitution of the United States and 'the oath to maintain 
a republican form of government, and in his enrolment to designate those who take 
and those who refuse to take tlie oaths, which rolls shall be forthwith returned to 
the provisional governor; and if the persons taking the oaths shall amount to a 
majority of the persons enrolled in the State, he shall, by proclamatif n, invite the 
loyal people of the State to elect delegates to a convention charged to declare the 
wUl of the people of the State relative to the re-establishment of a State govern- 
ment, subject to and in confoimity with the Constitution of the United S ates. 

Sec. 3. Arid be it further enacted. That the oath to maintain a republican frrm 
of government shall be as follows: "I do hereby swear (or affirm) that I will, 
at all times hereafter, use my best endeavors to maintain a republican form of gov- 
ernment in the State of which I am an inhabitant and in the Union of the United 
States; that I will, at all times, recognize the indissoluble unity of the republic, 
and will always discountenance and rtsist any endeavor, to break away or secede 
from the Union ; that I will give my influence and vote, at all times, to strengthen 
and sustain the national credit ; that I will alwajs discountenance and resist any 
attempt, directly or indirectly, to i-epudiate or postpone, in any part or in any 
way, the debt which was contracted by the United States in subduing the late 
rebellion, or tie obligations assumed to the Union soldiers; that I will always dis- 
countenance and resist any laws making any distinction of coloi- or race ; and that 
in all ways I will strive to maintain a State government completely loyal to the 
Union, where all men shall enjoy equal protection and equal rights." 

Seo. 4. And be it further enacted, That the convention shall cotjsist of as many 
members as both houses of the last constitutional State legislature, apportioned by 
the provisional governor among the counties, parishes, or districts of the State, in 
proportion to the population returned as electors, by the marshal, in compliance 
with the provisions of this act. The provisional governor shall, by proclamation, 
declare the number of delegates to be elected by each county, parish, or election 
district; name a day of election not less than thirty days thereafter; designate the 
places of voting in each county, parish, or districi, conforming, as nearly as may 
be convenient, to the places used in the State elections next preceding the rebel- 
lion ; appoint one or more commissioners to hold the election at each place of 
voting, and provide an adequate force to keep the peace during the election. 

Seo. 6. And be it further enacted, That the delegates shall be elected by the 



loyal male citizens of tbe United States of the age of twenty-one years, and resident 
at the time in the county, parish, or district in which they shall offer to vote, and 
enrolled as aforesaid, or absent iu the military service of the United States, and 
*-who shall takfl and subscribe the oath of allegiance to the United States in the 
form contained in the act. of Congress of July 2, 1862, and the before-recited oath 
to maintain a republican form of government ; and all such citizens of the United 
States who are in the military service of the United States shall vote at the head- 
quarters of their respective commands, under such regulations as may be prescribed 
by the provisional governor for the taking and return of their votes; but no per- 
son who has held or exercised any office, civil or military, State or otherwise, under 
the rebel usurpation, or who has voluntarily borne arms against the United States, 
shall vote or be eligible to be elected as delegate at such election. 

Seo. 6. A7id be it further enacted, That the commissioners, or either of them, 
shall hold the election in conformity with this act, and, so far as may be consistent 
therewith, shall proceed in the manner used in the State prior to the rebellion. 
The oath of allegiance and the oath to maintain a republican form of government 
shall be taken and subscribed on the poll-book by every voter in the form above 
prescribed, but every person known by or proved to tlie commissioners to have 
held or exercised any office, civil or military. State or otherwise, under the rebel 
usurpation, or to have voluntarily borne arms against the United States, shall be 
excluded though he offer to take the oath ; and in ease any person who shall have' 
borne arms against the United States shall offer to vote, he shall be deemed to 
have borne arms voluntarily unless he shall prove the contrary by the testi- 
mony of a qualified voter. The poll-book showing the name and oath of each 
voter shall be returned to the provisional governor by the commissioners of elec- 
tion or the one acting, and the provisional governor shall canvass such returns, and 
declare the person having the hipfhest number of votes elected. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted. That the provisional governor shall, by pro- 
clamation, convene the delegates elected as aforesaid, at the capital of the State, on 
a day not more than three months after the election, giving at least thirty days' 
notice of such day. In case the capital shall in his judgment be unfit, he shall in 
his proclamation appoint another place. He shall preside over the deliberations of 
the conventioL, and administer to each delegate, before taking his seat in the con- 
vention, the oath of allegiance to the United States and the oath to maintain a re- 
publican form of government in the form above prescribed. 

Sec. 8. And be it farther enacted, That the convention shall declare, on behalf of 
the people of the State, their submission to the Constitution and laws of the United 
States, and shall adopt the following provisions, hereby prescribed by the United 
States in the execution of the constitutional duty to guarantee a republican form 
of government to every State, and incorporate them in the constitution of the State, 
that is to say : 

First. No person who has held 07 " exercised any office, civil or military, except 
offices merely ministerial and military offices below the grade of colonel. State or 
otherwise, under the usurping power, shall vote for or be a member of the legifla- 
ture or governor. 

Secondly. Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the freedom of all 
persons is guaranteed in such State. 

Thirdly. No debt. State or otherwise, created by or under the sanction of the 
usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the State. 

Fourthly. No person shall enter upon any office within the gift of the people of 
• this State until he has first taken the oath to support the Constitution of the United 
States, and the oath to maintain a republican form of government. And the con- 
stitution shall prescribe forms for these oaths substantially in accordance with the 
forms herein provided. 

Fifthly. There shall be no distinctions among the inhabitants of this State fonnded 
on race, formei condition, or color. Every such' inhabitant shall be entitled to all 
the privileges before the law enjoyed by the most favored class of such inhab- 
itants. 

Sixthly. These provisions shall be perpetual, not to be abolished or changed 
hereafter. 

Seo. 9. And be it further enacted. That when the convention shall have adopted 
those provisions, it shall proceed to re-establish a republican form of government, 
and ordain a constitution containing those provisions, which, when adopted, the 
convention shall by ordinance provide for submitting to the people of the State 
entitled to vote under this law, at an election to be held in the manner prescribed 
by the act for the election of delegates, but at a time and place aamed by the con- 
vention, at which election the said electors, and none others, shall vote directly for 



4 

or against such oonetitution and form of State government. And tbe retnrno of 
said election shall be made to the provisional governor, who shall canvass the same 
in the presence of the electors, and if a majority of the votes cast shall be for the 
constitution and form of government, he shall certify the same, -with a copy thereof, 
to the President of the United States, who, after obtaining the assent of Congresp, 
shall, by proclamation, recognize the government so established, and none other, 
as the constitutional government of the State; and from the date of sach recogni- 
tion, and after its legislature shall have ratified the amendment to the United States 
Constitution abolishing slavery and prohibiting involuntary servitude, and not 
before, senators and representatives and electors for President and Vice-President 
may be elected in such State, according to the laws of the State and of the United 
States. 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That if the convention shall refuse to re-es- 
tablish the State government on the conditions aforesaid, the provisional governor 
ehall declare it dissolved; but it shall be the duty of the President, whenever he 
shall have reason to believe that a snfficient number of the people of the State en- 
titled to vote under this act, in number not less than a majority of those enrolled as 
aforesaid, are willing to re-establish a State government on the conditions afore- 
said, to direct the provisional governor to order another election of delegates to & 
convention for the purpose and in the manner prescribed in this act, and to pro- 
ceed in all respects as hereinbefore provided, either to dissolve the convention or 
to certify the State government re-established by it to the President. 

Skc. 11. And be it further enacted. That until the United States shall have recog- 
nized a republican form of State government, the provisional governor in each of 
aaid States shall see that this act, and the laws of the United States, and the laws 
of the State in force when the State government was overthrown by the rebellion, 
are faithfully executed within the State ; but n» law or usage contrary to any of 
the provisions herein directed to be inserted in the constitution of the State shall 
be recognized or enforced by any court or officer in such State; and said provisions 
shall be regarded as already incorporated into the law of the State, and the laws 
for the trial and punishment of white persons shall extend to all p'ersons, and 
jurors shall have the qualifications of voters under this law for delegates to the 
convention. The President shall appoint such officers provided for by the laws of 
the State when its government was overthrown as he may find necessary to the 
civil administration of the State, all which officers shall be entitled to receive the 
fees and emoluoaents provided by the State laws for such officers. And he may 
permit, when he deems it expedient, elections to be made of such officers by the 
people who are entitled to vote according to the provisions of this act ; the said 
ofi&cers to have the qualifications required for voters under this act, and to hold 
their offices subject to removal by him. And all such offices, whether appointed 
by the President or elected by the people, shall, before entering on the duties of 
their offices, take the oaths to support the Constitution of the United States, and to 
maintain a republican form of government. 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted. That until the recognition of a State govern- 
ment as aforesaid, the provisional governor shall, under such regulations as he may 
prescribe, cause to be assessed, levied, and collected, for the year eighteen hundred 
and sixty-four, and every year thereafter, the taxes provided by the laws of such 
State to be levied during the fiscal year preceding the overthrow of the State gov- 
ernment thereof, in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State, as nearly as 
may be ; and the officers' appointed, as aforesaid, are vested with all powers of 
levying and collecting such taxes, by distress or sale, as were vested in any officers 
or tribunal of the State government aforesaid for those purposes. The proceeds of 
such taxes shall be accounted for to the provisional governor, and be by him ap- 
plied to the expenses of the administration of the laws in such State, subject to the 
direction of the President, and the surplus shall be deposited in the treasury of the 
United States to the credit of such State, to be paid to the State upon an appro- 
priation therefor, to be made when a republican form of government shall be recog- 
nized therein by the United States. 

V. 

A BILL to prescribe an oath to maintain a republican form of government in the 

rebel States. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That hereafter every person in any State lately de- 
clared to be in rebellion, before he shall be allowed to vote at any election, Stateor 
natioual, or before he shall enter upon the duties of any office, State or national, or 



6 

become entitled to the salary or other emoluinents thereof, shall take and subscribe an 
oath or afErmation to maintain a republican form of government, as follows: " I do 
hereby swear (or affirm) that I will at all times hereafter use my best endeavors to 
maintain a republican form of governmant in the State of which I am an inhabitant 
and in' the Union of the United States ; that I will at all times recognize the indis- 
soluble unity of the republic, and will always discountenance and resist any endeavor 
to break away or secede from the Union ; that I will give my influence and vote at 
all times to strengthen and sustain the national credit ; that I will always diecoun- 
tenance and resist any attempt, directly or indirectly, to repudiate or postpone, 
either, in any part or in any way, the debt which was contracted by the United 
States in subduing the late rebelion or the obligations assumed to the Union soldiers ; 
that I will always discountenance and resist any laws making any distinction of 
color or race ; and that in all ways I will strive to maintain a State government 
completely loyal to the Union, where all men shall enjoy equal protection and equal 
rights ;" which, so taken and subscribed, shall be preserved in the proper office or 
department, according to regulations made by the President of the United States. 
Any person who shall falsly take such oath shall be guilty of perjury, and, on con- 
viction, in addition to the penalties now prescribed for that offence, shall be deprived 
of his office, and rendered incapable forever after of holding any office under the 
United States. 

VI. 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS Declaratory of the adoption of the constitutional 
amendment abolishing slavery. 

"Whereas the Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of both houses, did heretofore pro- 
pose to the legislature of tne several States for ratification and amendment to the 
Cjnstitution in the following words, to wit : 

"Article XIII. — Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except aa 
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall ex- 
ist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdction. 

"Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate leg- 
islation." 

And whereas, at the time when such amendment was submitted, as well as since 
there were sundrj' States which, by reason of rebellion, were without legiplatures 
so that while the submission was made in due constitutional form, it was not, as it 
could not be, made to all the States, but to " the legislatures of the several States," 
in obedience both to the letter and spirit of the provision of the Constitution au- 
thoriziug amendments, there being a less number of legislatures of States than there 
were Stalts ; aBd whereas since the Constitution expressly anthorizes amendments 
to be made, any construction thereof which would render the making of amend- 
ments at times impossible must violate both its letter and its spirit ; and whereas to 
require the ratiiication to be by States without legislatures as well as by •' the leg- 
islatures of the State ," in order to be pronounced valid would put it in the power 
of a long-continued rebellion to suspend not only the peace of the nation, but its 
Constitution also ; aud whereas, from the terms of the Constitution and the nature 
of the case, it belongs to the two houses of Congress to determine when such ratifi- 
cation is complete ; and whereas more than three-fourths of the legislatures to which 
the proposition was made have ratified such amendment; Now, therefore. 

Be it resolved by the Senate, (the House of Representatives concurring,) That the 
amendment abolishing slavery has become and is a part of the Constitution of the 
United Spates. 

Resolved, That notwithstanding the foregoing resolution, and considering the 
great public interest which attaches to this question, the legislatures which have not 
ratified the amendment be permitted to express their concurrence therein by the 
usual form of ratification to be returned in the usual manner. 

Resolved. That no one of the States, to the legislatures of which such amendment 
could not be submitted, by reason of its being in rebellion against the United States 
and having no legislature, be permitted to resume its relations, and have its legis- 
lature acknowledged, and its senators and representatives admitted, until its legis- 
lature shall have first ratified such amendment in recognition of the accomplished 
fact 



VII. 

A BILL Supplying appropriate legislation to enforce the amendment to the Constitu- 
tion prohibiting slavery. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. That neitlier slavery nor involuntary servitude, ex- 
cept as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con rioted, 
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. If any person shall attempt to control, or shall, 
by act or word, lay claim to any right to control the services of any other person 
contrary to the provisions of the foregoing section, the person so offending shall, 
tipon indictment and conviction in the district court of the United States for the 
district where the crime was committed, be punished by a fine not exceeding ten 
thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term notexceedingten years, or by both, 
to be inflicted at the discretion of the court; and it shall be no defence nor cause 
of mitigation of sentence that such claim or attempt is sanctioned by any pretended 
law of a State or any judgment of a Stite court. But nothiug herein contained 
shall be held to impair any other remedy now existing by hubeas corpus or other- 
wise. 

Sko. 3. And be it further enacted. That in further enforcement of the provision of 
the Constitution prohibiting slavery, and in order to remove all relics of this wrong 
from the States where this constitutional prohibition takes effect, it is hereby de- 
clared that all laws or customs in such States establishing any oligarchical privileges 
and anj distinction of rights on account of color or race are hereby annulled, and 
all persons in such States are recognized as equal before the law ; and the peoaltiea 
provided in the last section are hereby made applicable to any violation of this pro- 
vision, which is made in pursuance of the Constitution of the United States. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That in further enforcement of the provision 
of the Constitution aforesaid, the courts of the United States in the States aforesaid 
shall have exclusive jurisdiction of all offences committed by persons not of African 
descent upon persons of African descent; also of all offences committed by persons 
of African descent; and also of all causes, suits, and demands to which any person 
of African descent shall be a party; and it is hereby declared that all such cases 
are to be treated as cases arising under the Constitution of the United States. 

vin. 

JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment of the Constitution of the United 

States. 

Resolved by the Sen&te and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both houses concurring,) That the 
following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths 
of such legislatures, shall become a part of the Constitution, to wft: 

" Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may be in- 
cluded within this Union according to the number of male citizens of the age of 
twenty-one years having in each State the qualifications requisite for electors of the 
most numerous brancli of the Stato legislature. The actual enumerations of such 
citizens shall be made by the census of the United States." 

IX. 

RESOLUTIONS declaratory of the duty of Congress in respect to guarantees of th e 
national security and the national faith mi the rebel States. 

Resolved, That, in order to provide. proper guarantees for security in the future, 
so that peace and prosperity shall surely prevail, and the plighted faith of the 
nation shall be preserved, it is the first duty of Congress to take care that no Slate 
declared to be in rebellion shall be allowed to resume its relations to the Union un- 
til after the satisfactory performance of five several conditions, which conditions 
precedent must be submitted to a popular vote, and be sanctioned by a majority 
of the people of each State respectively, as follows : 

1. The complete re-establishment of loyalty, as shown by an honest recognition 
of the unity of the republic, and the duty of allegiance to it at all [times, without 
mental reservation or equivocation of any kind. 

2. The complete suppression of all oligarchical pretensions, and the complete en- 
franchisement of all citizi:ns, so that there shall be no denial of rights on account 
of color or race ; but justice shall be impartial, and all shall be equal before the 
law. 



3. The rejection of the rebel debt, and at the same time the adoption, in just 
proportion, of the national debt and the national obligations to Union soldiers, 
■with solemn pledges never to join in any measure, direct or indirect, for their re- 
pudiation, or in any way tending to impair the national credit. 

4. The organization of an educational system for the equal benefit of all, without 
distinction of color or race. 

6. The choice of citizens for office, whether state or national, of constant and un- 
doubted loyalty, whose conduct and conversation shall give assurance of peace and 
reconciliation. 

Resolved, That in order to provide these essential safeguards, without which the 
national security and the national faith will be imperilled, States cannot be precip- 
itated back to political power and independence ; but they must wait until these 
conditions are in all respects fulfilled. 

X. 

RESOLUTIONS declaratory of the duty of Congress, especially in respect to loyal 
citizens in the rebel States. 

Whereas it is provided by the Constitution that "the United States shall guarantee 
to every State in this Union a republican form of government;" and whereas 
there are certain States where, by reason of rebellion, there are no State gov- 
ernments recognized by Congress : and whereas, because of the failure of such 
States, respectively, to maintain State governments, it has become the duty of 
Congress, standing in the place of guarantor, where the principal has made a 
lapse, to provide governments republican in form for such States, respectively : 
Now, therefore, in order to declare the duty of Congress — 

1. Resolved, That whenever a convention is called in any of such States for the 
organization of a government, the following persons have a right to be repre- 
sented therein, namely: the citizens of the ^Btate who have taken no part in the 
rebellion, especially all those whose exclusion from the ballot enabled the rest to 
carry the State into the rebellion, and still more especially those who became sol- 
diers in the armies of the Union, and by their valor on the battle-field turned the- 
tide of war, and made the Union triumphant; and Congress must refuse to sanc- 
tion the proceedings of any convention composed of delegates chosen by men re- 
cently in arms against the Union, and excluding men who perilled their lives in its 
defence, unless its proceedings have been first approved by those hereby declared 
to be entitled to participate therein. 

2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, being supreme over 
State laws and State constitutions in respect of these matters upon which it 
speaks, and the duty being now imposed by it on Congress to legislate for the es- 
tablishment of government in such States respectively, it is hereby declared that 
no supposed State law or State constitution can be set up as an impediment to the 
national power in the discharge of this duty. 

3. Resolved, That since also it has become the duty of Congress to determine 
what is a republican form of government, it is hereby declared that no government 
of a State recently in rebellion can be accepted as republican, where large masses 
of citizens who have been always loyal to the United States are excluded from the 
elective franchise, and especially where the wounded soldier of the Union, with all 
his kindred and race, and also the kindred of others whose bones whiten the battle 
fields where they died for their country, are thrust away from the polls to give 
place to the very men by whose hands wounds and death were inflicted ; more par- 
ticularly where, as in some of those States, the result would be to disfranchise the 
majority of the citizens who were always loyal, and give to the oligarchical mi- 
nority recently engaged in carrying on the rebellion the power to oppress the loyal 
majority, even to the extent of driving them from their homes, and depriving them 
of all opportunity of livelihood. 

4. Resolved, That in all those cases where, by reason of rebellion, there is a lapse 
in the State government, and it becomes the duty of Congress to provide a govern- 
ment for the State, no government can be accepted as a "republican form of gov- 
ernment" where a large proportion of native born citizens, charged with no crime 
and no failure of duty, is left wholly unrepresented, although compelled to pay 
taxes ; and especially where a particular race is singled out and denied all repre- 
sentation, although compelled to pay taxes ; more especially where. su«h race con- 
stitutes the majority of the citizens, and where the enfranchised minority has for- 
feited its rights by rebellion ; and more especially still, where by such exclusion 
the oligarchical enemies of the republic can practically compel it to break faith 



LIBRARY OF CONUREbb 

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with national soldiers and national creditors, to -whose 
during a period of peril. 

XI. 

A BILL to loarrant and confirm the land titles of grantees under the field order of 
Major-General Sherman at Savannah, January sixteen, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-five. 

Whereas Major General Sherman, of the army of the United States, by special field 
order number fifteen, dated in the field, Savannah, Georgia, January sixteen, eigh- 
teen hundred and sixty-five, reserved and set apart certain lands for the settlement 
of the negroes made free by the acts of war and the proolamation of the Pi^esident 
of the United States, which order, so far as it relates to this subject was as follows: 

"I. The islands from Charleston south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers 
for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the Saint John's 
river, Florida, are reset ved and set apart for the settlement of the negroes now made 
free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the United States. 

"II. At Beauford, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, Saint Augustine, and Jack- 
sonville the blacks may remain in their chosen or accustomed vocations ; but on the 
islands and in the settlemeents hereafter to be established, no white person what- 
ever, unless military officers and soldiere detailed for duty, will be permitted to re- 
side ; and the sole and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed peo- 
ple themselves, subject only to the United States military authority and the acts 
of Congress. 

"III. Whenever three respectable negroes, heads of families, shall desire to settle 
on land, and shall have selected for that purpose an island, or a locality clearly de- 
fined, within the limits above designated, ihe inspector of settlements and plantations 
will himself, or by such subordinate officer as he may appoint, give them license to 
settle such island or district, and afford such assistance as he can to enable them to 
establich a peaceable agricultural settlement. The three parties named will subdi- 
vide the land, under tlie supervision of the inspector, among themselves and such 
others as may choose to settle near them, so that each family shall have a plot of 
not more than forty (40) acres of tillable ground, and when it borders on some 
water channel with not more than eight hundred (800) feet water front, in the pos- 
session of which land the military authorities will afford them protection until such 
time as they can protect themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their title. 

"IV. Whenever a negro has enlisted in the military service of the United States, 
he may locate his family in any one of the settlements at pleasure, and acquire a 
homestead and all other rights and priviledges of a settler as though present in per- 
son. In like manner, negroes may settle their families and engage on gunboats, or 
in fishing, or in the navigation of the island waters without losing any claim to land 
or other advantages derived from this system. But no one unless an actual settler 
as above defined, or unless absent on government service will be entitled to claim 
any right to land or property in any settlement by virtue of these orders. 

"V. In order to carry out this system of settlement, a general efiicer will be de- 
tailed as inspector of settlements and plantations, whose duty it^all be to visit 
the stittlements, to regulate their police and general management, and who will fur- 
nish personally to each head of a family, subject to the approval of the President of 
the United States a possessory title in writing, giving as near as possible the de- 
scription of boundaries, and who shall adjust all claims or conflicts that may arise 
under the same, subject to the like approval, treating such titles as altogether 
posses JO ry-" 

And whereas the faith of the nation is pledged to the grantees who have entered 
upon such lands in pursuance of this order: Therefore — 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That all the posses'iory titles created by the in- 
spector of settlements and plantations in the lands above described, and io pursu- 
ance of the military order aforesaid, are hereby confirmed and warranted to the 
several grantees respectively, who shall continue to hold the lands on which they 
have t'litered^in fee simple, free from all ouster or interruption from any person 
whose claim of title is anterior to the military order aforesaid. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013785 643 8 



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